Getting Into Cycle Touring As A Beginner

Cycling is a great way to see the world. It’s the perfect pace; slower than driving, but faster than walking meaning you have enough time to take everything in and enough speed to cover some ground.

For cycle touring or bike packing newbies going out for your first tour can feel intimidating, we totally get it!

But trust us, as a couple of bike tourist enthusiasts with stories from cycling the world, we’re here to tell you that cycle touring and bike packing is nothing to fear! Infact, you can get started with nothing more than a bicycle; the rest is up to you.

Before you head out on your first trip here’s our beginners guide to bike touring.

In this article

• Travelling by bike: the low down
• What exactly is the difference between cycle touring and bike packing?
• What is cycle touring?
• What is bikepacking?
• About cycle tourists
• What to wear on a bike tour
• Common mistakes bike travellers make
• What to pack on a bike tour
• Reasons to go on a bike tour?
• Bike trips we’ve tried and loved
• What do we know about cycle touring?

Travelling by bike: the low down

I want to start here, because I know how it is, likely you won’t read this entire blog and this is important.

• You can cycle tour on any bike. It doesn’t matter if it was £50 and second hand on Facebook.
• To run a successful bike trip you just need a bike and a credit card so you can sleep somewhere. You can sleep in a tent if you prefer!
• You could get away with hardly any luggage. If all you had was a backpack, you could take that. It won’t be ideal, but pack it light enough and you’ll be fine! I cycled 80 miles with a backpack once then slept in an Airbnb caravan. That was before I knew bike touring was even a thing!

Whatever you do, don’t get bogged down in the ‘rules’. Bikepacking is no more complicated than riding a bike to somewhere (anywhere), sleeping there, then riding back home.

What exactly is the difference between cycle touring and bike packing?

Before we can define what differentiates cycle touring from bike packing, let’s look at the definitions of both.For the purposes of being useful I have made an effort to define the two: bikepacking and cycle touring, but if you ask me it’s a matter of semantics. Some people get a little hept up on what’s what, but we prefer to think that all lovers of bicycle travels are united.

Take a look at the screenshot above. It shows ‘cycle touring’ searches vs. ‘bikepacking’. an interest in ‘bikepacking’ increased in ~June 2019, which is pretty interesting timing, right?

What is bicycle travel?

I’m using ‘bicycle travel’ as an umbrella term for cycle touring and bike packing here. Bicycle travel is a type of medium to long-distance cycling where you travel with your belongings on your bike.

You can travel by bicycle independently or as part of a group.

Bicycle travel does not need to be epic tales of around the world rides, although that is rather cool! A bicycle tour is simply a ride across a few days with at least an overnight stay. It does not matter if you stay in a hotel or a tent, as long as you pedalled there.

The main thing that separates cycle touring from bike packing is:

1. The type of bike you ride
2. The bike set up
3. The terrain

What is cycle touring?

Cycle touring is a form of travel that takes place on a bicycle. Traditionally a cycle tourist will carry pannier bags to carry their belongings. Generally, cycle tourists are on an easier terrain, roads and cycle paths opposed to gravel. A cycle tourist might ride a steel frame touring bike.

Cycle Touring Bikes

Cycle tourists tend to ride steel frame touring bikes. A popular brand for cycle tourists is Surly, but Stew and I loved our Genesis Tour De Fer. Truthfully, cycle touring can be done on any bike.

Cycle Touring Bike Setup

A touring bike will generally have a low gear ratio to make pedalling easier. Cycle tourists tend to carry their belongings in pannier bags. You can fit panniers to the front and/or back of your bike. They rest on a pannier rack and come in different sizes.

Panniers are great because you can access your belongings easily on the go, but they can make your bike less manoeuvrable, which is why they’re less desireable for bikepacking (more on thay below).

Cycle Touring Terrain

Cycle tourists typically stick to bike paths and paved roads. This is the reason why cycle tourists can manage with panniers.

What is bikepacking?

Bikepacking is a type of medium to long-distant bike travel that generally takes place on a mountain bike or other off-road capable bike. Rather than using panniers, bikepackers will use frame bags, seat packs and handlebar bags to carry their belongings.

 

Bikepacking Bike Setup

A bikepacking set up uses bags that attach to your frame, seat and handlebars as opposed to racks and panniers. The bags are often waterproof so you don’t need to worry about packing a separate rain cover. They’re also generally much lighter than panniers.

Stew and I are from a school of thought that you should pick a set up that you like. Stew’s bike for example mixed up traditional cycle touring set up with a bikepacking set up but it worked! We’re just people riding bikes, what does it matter if it’s a ‘cycle touring’ or ‘bikepacking’ setup?

Bikepacking Terrain

Bikepackers will often stick to single track trails and off-road routes. This is the main reason why a bikepacking set up is desireable as it makes your bike more nimble. You’re not going to end up bumping your panniers off your bike of struggling to manoeuvre down a single track trail.

To be fair though, you can go bikepacking on any terrain. Want to ride the paved roads and nice cycle paths, you do you!

About cycle tourists

Alright, so you know what bike you might need (any, but a posh one if you fancy it). Now let’s figure out who cycle tours and whether or not it’s for you.

Who Goes Cycle Touring?

Let me tell you in no uncertain terms: ALL SORTS of people go bike packing.

The best thing about riding through 21 countries on a bicycle is that you truly do meet allsorts. We met solo women and men. We met and ate dinner with retired couples and shared stories. Some people (like us) were living off savings and sleeping in cheap Airbnbs, others were cycle touring internationally with nothing but $5/day and camping every night.

Is Cycle Touring for You?

This is a question only you can answer, but I really do hope that this guide will give you enough confidence and inspiration to try.

There are a few prerequisites for bike touring. Ideally you will:

• love riding a bike. I mean obviously, right? But seriously. When we cycled around the world we got on a bike nearly every day and pedalled. You gotta love it if you’re going to go long distance.
• enjoy being outdoors whatever the weather, especially if you’re cycling in the UK.
• have a thirst for adventure. No matter how much you plan, if you’re cycling long-distance over a long period of time, something will go wrong! You need to be able to adapt to whatever situation you find yourself in.
• love meeting new people and sharing stories. You can’t expect to roll into every cafe on a loaded bike and not get a bit of attention from passers by or even a fellow tourist.

What to wear on a bike tour?

In short: whatever you feel comfortable wearing.

Personally, Stew and I like to wear cycle shorts, a light t-shirt and — stuffed in the panniers just incase — a light waterproof jacket and heavy duty waterproof over trousers.

I recommend trying a few bits out to see what you like. I love DHB shorts, but couldn’t get on with Endura. Stew likes Endura. Every body is different.

If you’re cycling somewhere hot, like Azerbaijan, you might want to rethink the waterproofs and opt instead for light, loose fitting shirts.

Common mistakes bike travellers make

Here are a few mistakes that newbies often make.

• Rushing: one of the best things about bike touring is that you can go as fast or as slow as you want. There’s no need to try and push big mileage days unless you want to.
• Overpacking: you really don’t need as much as you think you do. Stew and I are actually really good at not overpacking and even managed to need stuff sent out to us when we were cycling in Turkey! Most people on big trips send stuff home.
• Not being prepared: this is a big one. It’s all fun and games until someone gets a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere. Make sure you know how to change a tyre, have the right tools and enough food and water to keep you going.
• Not carrying cash: although unlikely you never know when you’re going to be in a spot of bother and need cash! Maybe a bnb in the middle of nowhere won’t take card. Yep, Stew has genuinely ran into this problem cycling in Scotland.

What to pack on a bike tour

Alright, what you pack kinda depends on how far you’re travelling.

Super-short, I just want to try this kit list:

• Bike
• Helmet
• Credit card for a hotel
• Cash
• Water
• Enough food
• Backpack (probably don’t even need that!)

I did my first bike tour with exactly the items pictured in the image above. I cycled ~80 miles from Shropshire to the Welsh coast. A backpack is less than ideal for that distance, but hey, I did it! Back then I didn’t even know I was cycle touring or that there were actual bags, like panniers, set up to do this comfortably. If you cycle tour like this I recommend: keeping the distance fairly low, 20-40miles per day, sleeping at a friend’s house, cheap bnb or hotel. Packing the backpack as lightly as you possibly can. My off bike clothes were a dress and a pair of flipflops.

Overnighter with camp kit list:

• Bike
• Helmet
• Credit card just incase
• Cash
• Water
• Enough food
• Stove
• Cooking set up (eg. pan, bowl, mug)
• Tent
• Sleeping mat
• Sleeping bag

Food to pack

For a meal we love tinned tuna in oil, spaghetti, courgette, onion, garlic and herbs. Decant your herbs and spices into a plastic bag. Cook the onion and garlic in the oil from the tinned tuna. Boil your pasta and combine.

Perfecto.

Reasons to go on a bike tour?

Stew and I could list so many reasons to bike tour that we’d end up with a blog that exceeds any reasonable word count. So, here are a few of the best reasons:

• It’s the best way to see a country. You can cover a lot more ground on a bike than you can on foot and you’re not restricted to public transport routes.
• You explore all sors of palces and really get a feel for a place. Travelling by bike means travelling between the tourist hot spots which means getting way off the beaten track and really seeing what a place is about.
• It’s genuinely a great way to meet people. People are often intrigued by what you’re doing and want to stop and chat. This is how we made so many friends while cycling around the world, seriously! I have life-long pals from Instagram thanks to our world bike tour.
• It’s a great way to get exercise. Even if you’re not particularly sporty, cycle touring is a great way to get some exercise. And, unlike going to the gym, it’s actually really enjoyable. It won’t feel like a workout.
• It’s a great way to disconnect from the world. When you’re out on a bike tour you can’t just reach for your phone. You will feel more connected to nature.

Bike trips we’ve tried and loved

• Short 1 night trips from the front door. When we moved to The Highlands we were desperate to tour. Our first ride was a short and simple credit card tour from home in Kinlochleven to Oban. We went along the cycle path, stayed in a hotel, bought food on route from cafes and travelled light. We cycled home the way we came the next day. After a year without touring it was bliss.
• Tours of an area: in 2022 we cycled a 350 mile route of the Outer Hebrides, it was amazing! We travelled fairly light for that and stayed in guest houses and hotels. We left from our doorstep and returned home 9 days later.
• John O’ Groats to Lands End by bike. We cycled John O’ Groats to Lands End in 2018. We took 2 weeks off work and cycled about 60 miles/day.
• World cycling tour in 2019/2020. Unfortunately, we were cut short thanks to covid, but we will cycle the world again!

What do we know about cycle touring?

Stew and I have cycle toured for years. It is the very thing that bonded us as a couple. We’ve cycled through 21 countries by bicycle and have at least a year of cycle touring in us as we complete our trip around the world.

Want to know more about cycle touring? Contact us!

For more articles on starting bike touring, read:

• How to Quit Your Job and Travel the World
• The Ultimate Guide to Wild Camping
• Our Cycle Route Around the World
• How to Fly With a Bicycle

Post written by: Zoe Ashbridge